Pumpkin patch with Tommy 2015

Both of my kiddos are in preschool this year, so I got to go to the pumpkin patch with each of their classes! A little repetitive, but fun to spend one on one time with each of them and watch them interact with their friends.

Last year's pumpkin patch experience was.......okay. Tommy was super shy still and didn't want to talk to anyone in his class or ride any of the rides. We pretty much walked around and did nothing :) But that was okay.

THIS year was a whole other ballgame. He had FUN! Like, talked to other kids, went on the zip line, went down the slide (so did mom!), played on the swing set kind of fun. I was so happy to see him enjoying himself. I've never cared that he's a shy child as long as he doesn't let his shyness/fear keep him from doing things he thinks would be fun but is too scared to try. And last year, I felt like that's what he was doing--WANTING to join in, but being too afraid to do it. So my mama-heart was so happy that he was relaxing and being a four year old!

When we first got there, the whole class rode the hay rack ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins.

Waiting patiently for the tractor to come pick them up...

 He was SO excited to be on a "REAL TRACTOR!!" He wanted to sit right behind the tractor. He thought it was magical. I thought it was fumey. But how could I say no to that face?!?

 Once we got to the actual pumpkin patch, Tommy was a man on a mission. He walked directly to a certain pumpkin, picked it up and said, "This is it, mom!" And that was it. Then he helped me pick out mine.

 It was SUPER sunny out, so this is the best we got :)

We went back to the tractor and put our pumpkins down and then played on the swing set for awhile until everyone was done in the patch.

 I just kept thinking how much he's grown since last year! He would NOT leave my side to play on the swing set last time we came and this time, he ran over there without a second thought. Preschool has helped my guy grow up so much!

They took a class photo and I have to say, there are the CUTEST kids in that class! They're all so sweet and their voices are so little. They were all super spread out and nobody looked at the same camera the whole time, but dang they're cute!

After we were done getting pumpkins, we did all the other fun stuff.

Played in the corn...

 

"Rode" a cow (statue).....

 

Fed the sheep and goats....

 

Climbed a ladder swing.....

 

 Ran the "rat race"......

 

Rode the train........ 

Went through the maze house (just LOOKING at this thing made me so claustrophobic)...

 Hung out with the minions......

Rode the zip line........

 Played on tractors and trikes.....

It was such a good time and I'm so glad I'm able to go on field trips with my sweet guy!

My little man's 2nd year!

We made it through our first year of preschool and now we're heading into the second year! I'm not NEAR the basket case this year as I was last year. Tommy is so much more confident in himself and slightly more open and friendly than he was last year, so I'm hoping he warms up quickly to everyone in his class! I feel like he was juuuuuust getting there at the end of school last year, so I hope he didn't regress over the summer.

He was excited to get to Noah's Ark this morning!

  

I think he felt really cool being the "seasoned veteran" instead of the "little kids," as he likes to call them. I dropped him off and he seemed just the slightest bit nervous, but walked right in and put his bag up. I watched him through the window and he was wandering around a little bit, looking lost. Still broke my heart just a little bit. He's so hesitant to just jump in and start playing with other kids. He found an airplane and started playing with that by himself. I was so hoping he would join the other kids soon!

When I went to pick him up, they were sitting in circle time and he was smiling and talking, so that made me feel better! He talked about all the kids that were there last year and let me know that a few new kids had come this year.   I kept trying to get him to take another picture but he kept saying, "I'm not facing the sun, mom!" So we walked away with this squinty picture :) This boy melts my heart!

I let him choose where to eat lunch and he picked Fazzoli's (truly a child after my own heart!). He had about 2 bites of spaghetti and 3 breadsticks--he's a carbatarian, just like me!! It was nice to just sit and chat, one on one with no distractions. I even let him talk me into a chocolate chip cookie for dessert.

On they way home, he pulled this cute snack out of his book bag...

 

 (Ignore the chocolate on his chin in the picture above :)

He did so good and I'm glad it was easier than last year! He was SOOOOO nervous last year and hesitant to leave me, but there's definitely been some improvement! 

Love you, bubs!

My little walking accident

Tommy is the most accident prone child I have ever encountered. I know every kid runs into (literally) their fair share of bumps and bruises, but my goodness! This kid has a knack for it. He's so good at it that I would almost consider it a talent. Unfortunately, the injured area is almost always his head.

So far, he's fallen and hit his mouth on a plastic storage tub and that chipped a tooth (which resulted in him needing it pulled). He's pulled a dining room table over and it hit and bust open his forehead (which you can read about in one of my previous blog posts). And now.........we have three more to add that have happened in the last two weeks.

A few weeks ago, my mom and cousin took Tommy to Chuck E Cheese. He was running and one of his flip flops got tucked under his foot somehow and he tripped and smacked his head right on the edge of a ski ball machine. My cousin called me and said, "Tommy hit his head and we're taking him to the ER." And I was all, "Haha, okaaaayyy!" She said, "Brady! I'm not joking! I wouldn't joke about something like that. Meet us there!" I could hear Tommy screaming in the back ground, so I knew she was serious. My heart was breaking not to be with him because he kept yelling, "Moooooommmmmy!! I want moooommmmmyyyyyy!" So sad :(

Nick, Tessa and I scrambled around and got in the car and made it to the Andover ER before they did.

I hate that we've had to go there so many times, but I am SO glad that hospital is there. I wouldn't go there for anything life threatening (just because they're a smaller hospital, not because of lack of confidence in the doctors!), but they are excellent for things like this. My mom and cousin showed up and we were put in a room in less than 5 minutes. We were seen in less than 10. And the ER doctor was Tommy's PCP, so he felt comfortable with him.

The doctor said to just monitor him for concussion symptoms and to use ice and ibuprofen. I hate paying $100 copay to hear that, but sure am glad for the peace of mind it brings. His head was CRAZY huge. Like.......crazy. He looked like an alien.Or a character off Star-Wars. Not so bad from the front.......

 GINORMOUS from the side!!

 It was seriously the weirdest thing ever. It was squishy and filled with blood, but SO. HUGE. I felt so bad for him. It hurt so much he couldn't hardly stand an ice pack, so we did lots of cold washrags. The doctor said he needed to stay upright for a few hours to help the blood drain a little, so he got ibuprofen, snuggles and TV time. It seemed to help his spirit, but not his bump. The doctor had warned us when it did start draining, his eyes would turn black. He didn't lie :)

This was just the next day.......not too bad yet.

 

This was 3-4 days later. Definitely started turning black. And his little nose was so swollen, you couldn't hardly see the bridge of it!

  

It got worse, but I somehow missed taking pictures of it. It didn't help that less than a week after he did this (and right when his bump was starting to go away), he was jumping off a couch cushion (that was on the floor that his dad had already told him to put up and stop jumping off of) and he fell and hit his forehead right on our wood floors in the exact same spot as his previous injury.

Sigh.

What am I going to do with this boy? Now, his bump is hard as a rock (three weeks later). It's mildly smaller, but the doctor said it could take 6-12 months for it to go completely away. Great. At least it doesn't seem to be hurting him as much. 

Then last weekend, he was playing outside and backed right into Nick's tail gate. We got out the ice pack again. 

 

And he got lots of snuggles again. 

He truly is a walking disaster! I hope we can make it at LEAST a month without another injury! PLEASE, TOMMY!! My wallet and my panic mode need a break!

T-ball recognition night

Last week, Tommy had t-ball recognition night at the Towanda Pool. I was hesitant to go because I had a feeling it would be PACKED, but I remember all the little "end of season" parties that we used to have when I was a kid and how much I loved going to them. So we went!

And I'm glad we did. It WAS pretty full because it was for all of the league teams (three different towns). But Tommy had so much fun! Each player got a medal and then they got to swim.

 I was a little nervous about how the kids would do with so many other kids in the pool, but they did great! They can't swim by themselves yet, so Nick and I were both in there with them and they had arm floaties on.

Now Tessa.....she's a "daredebil" as she likes to call herself. She'll do almost anything (at least once). She saw all of the big kids jumping off the diving board and decided she wanted to do it to. Nick told her she had to be able to jump off the side without anyone catching her before he'd let her jump off the board. So she did! She jumped off the side, went under water and held her breath the whole time. So her daddy let her go off the diving board (while he was swimming in the deep end to kind of catch her or at least be right there). She looked SO tiny with all those other big kids around her, but she walked right to the end, hesitated for just a few seconds and then jumped! Twice!

Then there's my little Tommy boy. He wants SO badly to be fearless.......it almost makes me sad! He sees Tessa doing these things and I can tell he wants to also, but his fear holds him back constantly (hmmm....I wonder where he gets THAT personality trait?). He asked to jump off the diving board and Nick told him the same thing--that he had to jump off the side first. I thought there was no way he'd do it. But he did! He jumped in without anyone catching him twice. He came up sputtering but he didn't get upset and he didn't swallow any water! So he moved onto the diving boards. Again, I thought for sure he'd chicken out...... He looked super little and super scared. But he did it! Twice!

I was so proud of both of them. Fear of a LOT of things has kept me from having fun in the past and I hate to see it happen to my kids, so I am SO glad when they step out of their comfort zone and push themselves a little. Because they end up having so much fun!

It was so sweet watching Tommy get his medal and then watching him swim with his little friends. This boy is growing up too fast!

T-Ball Boy

We put Tommy in t-ball this year and he LOVED it. He almost didn't get to play because of a miscommunication between the athletic director in Benton and myself, but after some investigating and help from my cousins, we figured out he was eligible to play and got him signed up!

I'm SO glad it worked out. He had the time of his life. I was a little nervous on the first day of practice because he was the smallest kid on the team (it's 4 to 6 yr olds and I think he was the only 4 year old on there!). But he held his own!

See him? 3rd from the left in the red shirt and black shorts? The tiny little guy stuck between two bigger guys? That's my boy :)

Tommy LOVED his coach. My sister asked him who his best friend on the team was and he said, "Brian!" So funny. He liked him so much that there were a few times he was being ornery and I said, "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to have to tell Brian you can't play t-ball anymore." Worked like a charm.

They were such a fun team with some spunky little boys on it! It made me nervous for the day Tommy is 8 or 9 and wants 15 friends over for a birthday party. Because, MAN can those boys be rambunctious when they're all together. Trouble, trouble, trouble. But I loved it.

He did pretty good with hitting. He usually hit the ball on the first or second swing.

He had perfected the "stance." His coach (Brian) taught them to get into stance--with knees slightly bent and ready to catch/stop the ball. Tommy created what I like to call the "extreme stance." It's very.....special. And kinda looked like he was pooping on the field.  But he was SO dedicated to that stance and worked it whenever he was on the field!

Catching........well, that's something we'll have to keep working on. I have to tell a story that's going to make me feel horrible, but..........

A few days after Tommy's first practice, I was in the front yard playing catch with him with a real baseball (you can see where this is going, right?). He kept putting his glove over his face and when I asked why, he said because he didn't want the ball to hit him. I assured him it wouldn't and he caught the next few balls okay. And then I threw it and it smacked him RIGHT in the face.

Oops.

Now, we were only a few feet apart and I put absolutely no effort into throwing it so it wasn't going very fast or hard. But it hit his jaw and he. was. MAD. He started crying and threw his glove on the ground and pointed his little finger at me and said, "This is YOUR fault!"

Knife in the heart.

But then we had a little talk about accidents and using kind words and trying to be tough. And I apologized of course (even though it was really HIS fault because he should've caught the ball--amiright?!?). Just kidding.

Kind of.

However, this incident led to him being scared of the ball for quite awhile. The good news is...........it was a team of 4 to 6 year olds. So the skill level wasn't extremely high. So him being scared of the ball didn't ever really matter in the big picture! He did eventually get over it and started to get a little better at catching the ball or stopping grounders.

His first game was bittersweet. Awesome to watch him do something I loved as a kid, something I know will help shape him as a person and something he was INCREDIBLY excited about. But sad that he's already old enough to be playing!

Can I just note that by the way his ankle is turned in the picture above, I can't believe he didn't break it!

 

I LOVE this little face!! 

His last game was bittersweet too (isn't EVERYTHING bittersweet as a parent?!?). I feel like he's gotten so much bigger already! And he's definitely learned a LOT about tball!

 One last group huddle

I am so, SO glad we got him into t-ball. I feel like it (of course) helped his athletic skills but it also helped his social skills SO much. He interacted with all the kids much more than I thought he would and had so much fun. We can't wait until next year!

Preschool 2015

Somehow, my little, tiny, first-born baby boy has completed a whole year of preschool. What?!? And while I feel like he's fresh from the womb (sorry for that visual), in actuality, he's 4 1/2 and well on his way to kindergarten.

(Insert sob here)

While sending him to preschool was mildly traumatic for me, I have to say we are SO blessed that we have a wonderful preschool in our hometown with two teachers who I'm pretty sure are saints. I could kick myself for not getting a picture of Tommy with either one of them, but there's always next year. I tried taking a picture of him on his last of preschool in the same place we took one on the FIRST day of preschool and.......well........THIS is the best I got.

So I didn't push the whole teacher picture thing. I totally understand his shyness (he was hiding because some of the kids were looking at him while I took his picture), but I get bummed because he is a TOTALLY different kid at home. He's so funny and outgoing and sweet and I feel like people (especially the teachers and his classmates) miss out on seeing that side of him, so I sometimes try to push him out of his comfort zone and let's just say it hardly EVER works out. But I trust God is working in him even now, so I just need to get over it!

Towards the end of the 2014-2015 school year, he had a few little programs. One was on a Sunday during the church service. It was optional and not all of his class was there, but we attend that church anyways, so I took him up there to sing. He freaked out and wasn't having it and refused to go to the front and sing. He then proceeded to have a little meltdown during the service. So I spent most of my time in the hallway trying to teach my kid how we act at church (and in general)!

His whole preschool had another program on a Monday night where they sang a few songs and then each kiddo was given a few awards. I was a little hesitant given the way Tommy acted at the church program, but he went right onto the stage with the rest of his class with no problem! They sang their songs (which were ridiculously cute) and then it was time for their awards.

 ***Warning-- this is about to sound like I'm bragging, but I promise I'm not! I'm very proud of my kids, but I know EVERY parent is proud of their kids and none are better than others. I'm just sharing his school accomplishments!***

I wish I would've been recording our family's reactions to Tommy's awards. Hysterical! Nick and I had of course been to a conference with his teacher's at one point in the school year, so we already knew their thoughts on Tommy's school performance. But our family....they usually only see the ornery, silly, crazy side of our boy and I think they were a little shocked :) He got an athletic award (which didn't surprise anyone because he LOVES sports) and then they gave him a role model student award! No lie, my father and brother-in-laws jaws literally dropped down and everyone kind of did the side-eye gaze at me and Nick. I'm proud of Tommy because that's an awesome award, but I'm also proud because I think back to where he started at the beginning of the year and where he is now.

I remember being SO nervous for him at the beginning of the year because whenever we were in unfamiliar situations or around people he didn't know, he was PAINFULLY shy. He refused to talk, to look at anyone, to play, to get comfortable. He just did NOT like to be around strangers or out of his comfort zone. The first few weeks of school, he would hold onto my legs and ask me not to leave before we got into school. He'd get quiet when we walked in and wouldn't talk to the teachers. He usually didn't want to take his coat off (I think it was like a security blanket for him). He wouldn't play with other kids--I'd watch him through the window and he always picked a quiet spot off by himself. Now, I'm not one that tends to over-exaggerate.....okay,  maybe I over-exaggerate a little....OKAY! I exaggerate EVERYTHING. But I remember thinking he would never have friends and always be an outcast and never "blossom." I made it a big deal in my mind.

But after a year of preschool.......it's like he's becoming a new kid! And I'm so thankful. He's starting to be so much more confident and friendly and open. The other day, I was sitting in the car in the parking lot with the kids while Nick ran into the store for something and we had the windows rolled down. A man walked by and Tommy yelled hi out the window. And I was like, "Who the heck is this kid?!?" He NEVER would have done that a year ago. He's recently started playing with other kids better. We had some friends over and he had never met their kids before, but within 15 minutes, they were all playing together and played for HOURS! We're taking baby steps, but he's getting there! And I'm 100% sure it's because of his time at Noah's Ark (and lots of prayer from his mama!). They've taught him so much more than letters and numbers and I love the God is incorporated into his daily lessons.

I could NOT have asked for a better preschool for him (and soon for Tessa, too)! I'm so proud of my 'role-model student' and hope that next year is even better for him!